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Friendly Elocutionist

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Location: City Streets


JC slowly started to come to, pain being whisked away and leaving him feeling far better. However, upon opening his eyes, he saw it was Kayleb healing him, Kayleb taking on his injuries. JC pulled himself from Kayleb's grasp, knowing he had been healed well enough. Kayleb commented about his stupid bike and moved to heal the others. When he finished, Manny teleported Kayleb away, leaving JC alone with the twins. JC hated having Kayleb heal him, and definitely owed him big time for this.

“Wasn't the bike, Rotor attacked me, and then some kid... long story.” His entire body felt sore, Despite Kayleb's healing. If JC had let Kayleb continue, the soreness would be gone, but there was no way he would let his friend be in pain because JC wanted to avoid being sore. Tentatively, testing his protesting ribs, JC sat up in the bed and looked over at the room. Amanda was very quiet, and Tina looked like she wanted to commit murder. Something big had to have occurred... and it likely involved Riley as he was not here.

“Where is Riley? Did you stop Ivy?” JC asked the girls, knowing something was wrong. There was no reason Riley would not be with them, at least no good reason. Tina angrily explained how Riley was Rotor, using a variety of tricks and robotics to trick them all. JC's eyes narrowed in anger just as Manny returned, explaining he was heading back out, and asking to be relieved as soon as possible. It was at this time that Shaundi's voice came to life over the base PA.

“Our communications have been compromised, I am sending out the reset signal, blocking out Rotor.” she said. She was hard at work in the control room, monitoring everything and trying to coordinate everything. Unfortunately, she arrived just in time for everything to go to hell, and so she had to mop things up. Manny and Sheera brought everyone back, but now Manny had to go back out. She heard the Rotor-Riley story, and knew they had to change their communication channels. A reset signal sent out would give the specified devices new encryption codes.

Rotor felt a signal pass into him as he was returning to his home. A reset... they were changing their communications against him. It would be a very simple matter to imitate another communication device and obtain the code; for him at least. He did not do it however. Rather, he let it go as he drove through the streets. Once he had been out of sight of Amanda and Tina, hehad slowed down, and obeyed the rules of the road. It was slow, but is was a simple enough task that he was partially occupied mentally. If he was alone with his thoughts and nothing to do he would lose it right now.

“I'm going to find Jack Frost and Rotor... we need to know if we need to abandon the base. I'll handle that prep work, you two rest up.” JC said, getting off the bed. As he passed Tina, he shot a look of concern for Amanda; he didn't need to tell her to take care of her twin, that much he was sure of. “Manny, I'm doing what I can to get you back in here. I'm really sorry buddy.” JC said over the communicators as he headed out of the medbay. Once out of the medbay, he saw Kayleb on the couch, looking as if he was trying to rest up.

“Kayleb, thank you. I owe you big time, if there is anything I can do, let me know.” JC told his friend as he passed by him to head into the kitchen. “Seriously, anything.” he added over his shoulder as he looked into the fridge... who took all the energy gels? As he pondered this, he sent Shaundi a message, telling her to start tracking Rotor via Riley's communicator. They had to find him, and if they could not trust Jack at least to keep Rotor in line... it would mean having to move bases. Not a good thing to have to do if they could help it.

"Roger bossman" Shaundi replied to herself as she stared at the screens in front of her. She started the tracking program, hoping for some luck. If they could find Rotor, they could arrest him... well, that part would be tricky. He had not broken any laws by lying to them... but he was a thief and he likely broke plenty of laws... they would have to chat with him or keep an eye on him and act accordingly. Hopefully the less angry Redhawk would be the side of their leader to handle this. If angry hawk took control... that would not be good. For anyone.

Tegian's Wife

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The door to the shop chimed as the raven pushed its way out. As the door shut behind him, he shook his head and the bird glamour faded. While Maeva and Celia chatted, Vol'Jin had opted to head out for a little while; he was hungry and didn't want to bother his mistress for food. She wasn't feeling well, with the little Prince growing within her, and the Fire-Woman was doing a good thing and taking care of his Mistress with some strong but calming tea. The smell bothered his sensitive nose but he didn't mind too much, as his Mistress seemed to appreciate the tea as well. The Fire-Woman was a good addition to the family. She took good care of the shop and didn't seem to get frustrated even though it liked to tease her. Someday it would stop doing that but for now it was entertaining. Vol'Jin thought about getting a shiny bauble as a gift for the Fire-Woman as a 'thank you' for taking care of his Mistress. Arthur - the King's name was accompanied by a snort as he trotted down the street - wasn't around nearly as much as he should be. His Queen was with child! No matter what was going on, the King should be with his Queen during this time. He had half a mind to n** the blond man and remind him where his duties truly lay. Take the Kingdom back when the Prince was born, not when the Queen still needed him so much. Not that she would admit to needing help. She had gone a great deal of time without anyone but him, her little feathered Voodoo monster, by her side and Maeva, his beloved Mistress, was not about to bother Arthur when she could handle all she needed, either by herself or with the Fire-Woman's aid. The Fire-Woman was nice. She didn't stare at him too much and she was very helpful. He liked that. He hoped she would be around for a while. Perhaps she would pet him behind the ears... "Maybe Fire-Woman would like that shiny rock-stone I found..." As Vol'Jin trotted down the empty street, his bright eyes flicked side to side, alert for the appearance of something that he could eat. Something larger than a bird... Ah! There! A large, plump rat skittered across the cobblestones. Vol'Jin took off after it, all thoughts banished from his mind except for the thought of food. As he ran, he shook his mane, causing the charms woven within the feathers to clink. The glamour fell back into place and it was a Raven aggressively pursuing a rat. He was so focused on catching his lunch that he didn't realize that the rat had slipped between a fence that was too small for Vol'Jin to fit through. As he attempted to jump between the two posts... He got stuck. The creature let out a squawk and struggled to free himself, with no success. The rat got away, leaving the 'raven' trapped in the fence.

Lonely Spirit

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”There is no present or future, only the past, happening over and over again, now.”
EUGENE O'NEILL


Location: London Alley/Streets of London/Maeva's Shop





|M|anny had arrived quickly. The teleporter looked completely wiped out, but still he kept going. The one known as Mist was truly a warrior of measure. Igasho’s respect for the man only continued to grow as the green warrior started to give orders to both Igasho and the woman he had brought with him. Athena was the name that Mist had called her. Igasho disapproved of her quickly. The costume she chose to wear was entirely too much a fashion statement and seemed to not only lack functionality, but hinder it.

|A|s Manny left, begging Igasho to just follow Athena, Igasho felt his heart sink a bit. Igasho had absolutely no intention of letting the shadow slip away any further than he already had. The Warrior Shaman changed his mouth and nose into the snout of a bloodhound as he began to move to the alley entrance that the shadow had stood in. Elani stepped in front of him, holding her hand out for him to stop. She apologized in advance for holding him up as she closed her eyes to concentrate on what she was doing. Igasho let out an annoyed huff and side stepped the hindrance. He had no time if he was to follow the trail before it went cold.

|I|gasho immediately picked out a fresh scent from a person that had left not too long ago. He hoped he was right as he started to move. He concentrated on his form as his robe sprouted feathers of black and white much like an ostrich. He took off around the corner starting to run, following the scent with his snout, but quickly ran into a few people who let out gasps of surprise and shock. Igasho couldn’t run at this speed if he couldn’t see what he was doing. He stopped long enough for his eyes to grow larger and split into many surfaces. The fly’s compound eyes allowed Igasho to see in every direction at once as he took off running again, this time avoiding the pedestrian traffic.

|T|he ostrich, bloodhound, fly hybrid dashed through the streets, pushing himself hard to keep up with the decaying scent. He knew it had taken too long to get started, but he couldn’t fault the heroes for following their policy. That was what allowed Igasho to function though, his position outside the laws of the planets he visited. The Warrior Shaman swept the thoughts from his mind, focusing on the task at hand.

|I|gasho had ran for a few miles. Just as his body was beginning to succumb to fatigue at the maintained running, the Warrior Shaman found the scent heading into a building, the sign atop stating it was Madam Maeva's Voodoo Shop. He couldn’t suppress a shiver as the feeling of wrongness drifted from the building itself. The outside was a small shop of darker hue, just as Igasho had come to expect of hole in the wall knick-knack shops. He could see the woman in the shop, sitting with her feet propped up. He could see her soul, a darkness about it that left Igasho wary, but there seemed to be several others in the building’s walls. Either this building was haunted by the spirits of those that had already departed this world or the building was alive in some way.

|I|gasho had hoped that by finding the shadow’s destination it would answer some of his questions simply by the nature of where it had gone, but this oddity only raised more questions. He could feel that irritation rising again that the Tree of Time had failed so completely by sending the Warrior Shaman, the shaman that fought wars and took down armies, to this time of confused sides in a battle that had yet to pass. Igasho took a deep breath, finding his center. He was no detective, but the Tree had sent him over a dozen others. He would just have to trust the Tree and do what he could to find the battle he was to fight and who’s side he was to take.

|F|inally walking in the door, Igasho looked around. There were many products ranging from amulets and jewelry to cauldrons and potions. Igasho eyed the many different things before finally setting his eyes on the woman that stood to greet him. The man took a strong whiff of the air, picking out the scent he had been following. It was buried deep beneath the many other fragrances that the store offered, but faintly filled the room. Igasho bowed his head lightly to the woman and said, “I was following the scent of a man and he seems to have come in here. You didn’t happen to see anyone come in in the last few minutes did you?”

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Where: Montoro Inc.

Thoughts: You have no idea...




A tap here... a tap there. The sound of Francisco's calloused fingertips lightly striking his projected keyboard emanated throughout the silent office. As he quickly read through multiple emails, his eyes continuously shifted to the corner of his monitor. He was watching closely as Chiara made her way through the lobby, up the elevator, and finally, down his hall. She would approach his door in a matter of seconds. Montoro was so focused when Chi opened his door that he looked up out of surprise. She was much quicker than he first expected. The door slammed behind her as she asked what he had done, "Hello to you as well," he started, leaning back in his chair a bit, "I've done quite a lot today. You're going to have to be a tad more specific." When confronted by his obvious mirage, she became... frustrated; explaining that she was talking about Julia. "Chi..." he began again, standing from his chair whilst buttoning his suit jacket, "... forgive me for being blunt, but you have been blinded by your own emotions. You have lost so much and that alone, has made you vulnerable. Julia was spying on you, Chi." With this statement, his eyes pierced hers, as if to push the fact that it was important she listened. When she returned his gaze with a look of disbelief, Montoro picked up where he left off, "She's working for the OWC. Do you understand that? They were measuring your emotional stability; trying to find a way to take you out without raising questions. Quietly... in the shadows... it's where these monsters live and they were using your situation... your need for companionship against you. I would have done something sooner, but I had no proof..." Francisco's voice raised a decebal with every sentence before it dropped into a sigh as he looked to the floor and back up to Chiara, "... not until she stood where you stand now and told me straight to my face when I confronted her. She's a low-level operative and it seems they gave her a mission she couldn't complete. She began caring for you. She told me she would drop her mission and though I admire that... her initial intent was to harm you and I could not allow that. I can't risk that woman coming back; some sick sense of loyalty guiding her to complete her mission." he finished with anger in his eyes, fists clenched. It was silent for a moment before Chiara denied his claim.

It was Montoro's turn to twist his face in disbelief, "After all I've done... you still don't trust me. Why? Why can't you open your eyes and see that all I'm trying to do is help you?" She was silent, "If this is about the night I approached you in your apartment-" Chiara cut him off to correct him, using the word, 'attacked'. "Honestly, Chiara, what other choice did I have?! You were violent, emotional... and confused. I watched you single handedly take down a subway line prior to our meeting. You would not have listened to me, otherwise. Your actions forced me to take necessary precautions out of fear that I could not confront you without being another meal for mother nature. Do you think you made it to my office without me clearing you? You are only here without a fight because I trust you not to lob my head from my shoulders. I trust you because, you know the truth now. You know who I am and to an extent, what I am to you. I am here for you now, just as I was on your bedside in that damn hospital. I raised you, I nurtured you, and I love you. By all right, you are my daughter and just because you don't remember it, doesn't make it disappear!" he yelled out to her, his eyes turning bloodshot as a single tear held firm to his lower eyelid. Montoro breathed deep, finally blinking to rid his lashes of the salty droplet that reacted by clinging to his cheek, "You know... it's funny; this morning I told my butler that I needed to leave you be... that I needed to let you find your way home. He suggested I talk to you about everything face to face. Sometimes, I really hate being right. I'm trying to save you, Chiara... if you can't trust me enough to know that... it's best you leave. Just do me a favor. Stay away from Julia. If you can't trust my judgement then, at least know that if you go anywhere near her... the enemy will be watching. They will not hesitate to dispose of her... just to destroy you."

Tegian's Wife

Demonic Wolf

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Things are about to change in ways you've never imagined...
ΦΦΦΦ
For the record... I'm going to enjoy every moment of it.
☻☻☻☻☻☻

Location: Shop
Mood: Feeling ill
Thoughts: I need something to stop this...


|M|aeva's assistant was indeed in good spirits this morning, as she cheerfully told the shop owner, “Good morning! And I suppose I am, I’ve got a lunch date I’m quite excited for.” Young love was so precious. "I'm sure you will have a lovely time. The little things are so important when you're young; they make fond memories for you to look back on when you're older." Jack Frost popping into Celia's life was something good for the girl; everyone deserved a little happiness. The kettle on the fire began to whistle as Maeva sat down and Celia was quick to snatch it off the fire and she poured the hot water into a large mug. The Voodoo Queen watch as the fire-wielding meta carefully added a teabag to the mug. The tea was pulled from a box that had not come from the shop. Celia must have stopped somewhere and bought it herself... How very sweet of her. The door to the shop shut as Vol'Jin left, likely on the hunt for food. Such a thoughtful creature; he didn't want to bother her for food, so he was going out to hunt for his own. Her thoughts were pulled from her familiar and back to the shop. The warm smell of ginger and lemon rose from the cup as the tea brewed and Celia presented the cup to Maeva, who took the mug in her hands and breathed in the steam rising from it. "Thank you dear," she said, "This is really quite thoughtful of you." Ginger tea was good for calming upset stomachs. Celia must have noticed that her employer wasn't feeling very well as of late and so had taken steps to try and make Maeva feel better. It was incredibly sweet and the Voodoo Queen did appreciate the gesture quite a lot. She took a sip of the tea and she almost instantly felt her stomach calm. It was a lovely feeling. Celia told her how she had been worried for the past few days about Maeva and her health and the Voodoo Queen simply smiled and assured the ashen-haired female that she was fine, that she was just suffering from a bit of a stomach bug and would fine in a week or so. It was too early to announce her pregnancy to anyone but her husband. The pair chatted for a bit after that, Maeva sipping her tea, a blanket draped over her shoulders, and Celia moving about the shop, doing a few necessary actions to get things ready for the day so that customers could find things simply and easily. Very few people entered the shop during the time that Celia was working, one simply buying a small statue, another a charm on a leather cord, and a couple others came in as well, purchasing various knick knacks. Finally, however, it was lunch time. Maeva was watching through the wide window for a sign that would indicate that Celia's new beau had arrived... A few snowflakes fluttered down in front of the window, coating the sidewalk. Ah. Yes, there it was. As Jack and Maeva didn't exactly have the best track record, she did not expect him to try and enter her shop. The Voodoo Queen noticed Celia watching the snow, which went from a few snowflakes to a small blizzard contained to a small chunk of sidewalk. The pedestrians were obviously mystified as to why snow was falling and, more to the point, why it was restricting itself to only that part of the sidewalk. "I think I can take it from here, Celia. You may go to lunch," said Maeva, smiling a little at the happy expression on her employees face. Celia was quick to grab her bag and head out.

Maeva waited until the ashen-haired female was gone and then let out a sigh, her ebony skinned form shifting and altering back into the fair skinned one that the public now knew as Megan. Humans were so easy to fool. It would be too late before they realized what kind of parasite had been growing behind the scenes, posing as a home for the homeless and forgotten of society; not even the heroes would be able to do anything about it. She had a few minutes to relax and enjoy the silence of her shop; it was comforting to sit within the silent air of the ancient building and breathe in the smells of ancient times. How things had changed... All too soon, her blissful, peaceful silence was broken by the approach of a very important guest. Her eyes opened and she watched the door, waiting. It had been a long time since she'd last seen a shaman from the Tree; she had a feeling that she knew why it had sent him but it would be too late by the time he figured it out. He was a lost soul, sent on a mission with no idea as to what it was he was searching for. The shaman stood outside for several minutes, looking at the shop and, she was sure, looking at her as well. Finally, however, he did enter. She stood, watching his eyes wander over her wares, which ranged from crystal amulets and bone jewelry to cauldrons and potions. The butterflies in the cage fluttered uneasily. They were likely hungry. Maeva made a mental note to feed them once this shaman left. "Welcome to my shop," she purred, standing up to greet him, watching as he took a deep breath; he was trying to catch the scent of something, a scent that had surely led him here, to her shop, but would lead him no further. The shaman bowed his head to her and said, “I was following the scent of a man and he seems to have come in here. You didn’t happen to see anyone come in in the last few minutes did you?” She smiled, "Many people come and go from my shop but no one has entered here in quite some time; you are the first to enter in about a half hour, Shaman. I would have noticed if anyone else had entered." After all, she had been in the main room this whole time and the last person to have left the shop was Celia when she went to lunch with her troublemaker boyfriend and Vol'Jin before that. "You appear to be chasing ghosts, my friend, and ghosts have no place within my shop unless they are going to be purchasing something." He gave her a look that suggested that he thought she was either crazy or hiding something. Maeva said, "If there is some other way I can help you, I would be happy to do so. If not, it appears as though your babysitter has arrived to take you home." The Lady Athena had just appeared on the sidewalk. "I must say, the costume seems impractical compared to the rest of the heroes. I'm honored to have been graced by the presence of such a person but I'm afraid that you two may be scaring away my business. So, please, if there is nothing I can help you with, I must ask you to continue your ghost chase elsewhere." Her stomach, which had been calmed by the ginger and lemon tea, suddenly heaved and an unpleasant green color suddenly flooded her cheeks. Maeva closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control her gag reflex until the shaman left or until she could go take a drink of her tea without seeming rude... Whichever came first.

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Orojed13
Silenced Nocturne
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Tegian's Wife

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                                                                Location: HomexxCompany: JuliaxxMood: RelaxedxxOutfit: Casual Date

                                                                She had never wanted to kill someone has badly as she now wanted to kill Francisco Montoro. She had a total of two healthy relationships in her life and she knew, in her heart, that he had ruined one of them. Why? What was the purpose of it? Did he delight in causing her pain? If he cared about her at all, he would keep his nose out of her life and just leave her alone. All she wanted was to move on with her life and try to forget that a whole section of her life prior to the explosion was either missing or jumbled.

                                                                "Chi..." he began again, standing from his chair and buttoning his suit jacket, "Do not call me that," she hissed. "It's Chiara." He continued, seemingly oblivious to her demand that he not use her nickname, "... forgive me for being blunt, but you have been blinded by your own emotions. You have lost so much and that alone, has made you vulnerable. Julia was spying on you, Chi." His eyes met hers, as though to indicate that it was very important that she listen to what he had to say. She met his gaze with a glare that was slightly marred by disbelief. He was off his rocker.

                                                                "She's working for the OWC. Do you understand that? They were measuring your emotional stability; trying to find a way to take you out without raising questions. Quietly... in the shadows... it's where these monsters live and they were using your situation... your need for companionship against you. I would have done something sooner, but I had no proof..." Francisco's voice raised with every sentence before dropping into a sigh as he looked down at the floor and then back up to her, "... not until she stood where you stand now and told me straight to my face when I confronted her. She's a low-level operative and it seems they gave her a mission she couldn't complete. She began caring for you. She told me she would drop her mission and though I admire that... her initial intent was to harm you and I could not allow that. I can't risk that woman coming back; some sick sense of loyalty guiding her to complete her mission."

                                                                "You're wrong."

                                                                His face twisted in disbelief; it was his turn to think she'd lost her mind but she didn't believe for two seconds that Julia was out to get her. "After all I've done... you still don't trust me. Why? Why can't you open your eyes and see that all I'm trying to do is help you?" Help her? Help her?!? What had he done so far to help her? "If this is about the night I approached you in your apartment-" "Attacked. You attacked me in my apartment that night! You stalked me to my home and attacked me, tying me to a chair, refusing to release me unless I cooperated with you!"

                                                                "Honestly, Chiara, what other choice did I have?! You were violent, emotional... and confused. I watched you single handedly take down a subway line prior to our meeting. You would not have listened to me, otherwise. Your actions forced me to take necessary precautions out of fear that I could not confront you without being another meal for mother nature. Do you think you made it to my office without me clearing you? You are only here without a fight because I trust you not to lob my head from my shoulders. I trust you because, you know the truth now. You know who I am and to an extent, what I am to you. I am here for you now, just as I was on your bedside in that damn hospital. I raised you, I nurtured you, and I love you. By all right, you are my daughter and just because you don't remember it, doesn't make it disappear!"

                                                                He was yelling now and there were even tears in his eyes. He certainly knew how to make himself seem like a normal human being who had the best interests of someone, aside from himself, at heart. Too bad she didn't believe him.

                                                                "What other choice did you have? Really? What about a phone call? I'm sure you and your people have the ability to find my phone number and call me. I don't even remember your number anymore, I would have answered. It would have been a hell of a lot more civilized than breaking into my home and tying me up. Don't you think I'd be more trusting of you, more willing to listen to what you had to say, if you had gone any other route?" What choice did he have? Any other choice would have been better. And he thought she was the one letting her emotions cloud her judgement. How dare he!

                                                                "You know... it's funny; this morning I told my butler that I needed to leave you be... that I needed to let you find your way home. He suggested I talk to you about everything face to face. Sometimes, I really hate being right. I'm trying to save you, Chiara... if you can't trust me enough to know that... it's best you leave. Just do me a favor. Stay away from Julia. If you can't trust my judgement then, at least know that if you go anywhere near her... the enemy will be watching. They will not hesitate to dispose of her... just to destroy you."

                                                                The blue rose, the one she had once created just for him, suddenly wilted, the flower dropping off and the stem withering until it looked to be nothing more than a blackened twig that had never had life to begin with.

                                                                "You're lying," she said. Her voice was soft but there was an angry, bitter edge to her words. "Do you think I'm stupid? That I'll believe anything you say because I'm angry? I know that you would never hire anyone that might possibly be associated with a terrorist group. You would not have let her be your personal secretary if you were not certain that she was a good person. Don't insult my intelligence. You're not trying to help me, you're not trying to save me."

                                                                Her voice had risen just a little. "Nothing you've done since I came out of that coma has been for me. It's been for you. All you've done is make things worse for me. If I'm a daughter to you and you love me so much, leave me alone; I don't need you trying to control what I do or who I talk to from the sidelines. I've lost enough already; I don't need to lose what little control I have left, to you. If the OWC wants me, they can come get me. I'm ready for them; I've had enough of you trying to puppet me."

                                                                She turned on her heel and strode out. The rose did not come back to life and there was nothing he or any of his new botanists or florists could do to bring it back.

                                                                Chiara exited the London branch of Montoro Inc. and stood on the sidewalk for a minute, taking deep breaths and trying to keep the tears at bay. She couldn't help but feel that he was lying to her. If he loved her as much as he claimed, why would he do that to her? Why was he trying to make things worse for her? "Stop this," she scolded herself. "If you're going to figure out what's going on, you can't count on anybody else. You have to do this yourself." Chiara took a deep breath and then looked around. It would take a bit of work but was doable... She winced as her injuries began to show themselves again. It was going to be a long day...

                                                                The red head walked down the street a ways, away from the M.I. building, before slipping down an empty alleyway. A plant spiraled up to engulf her the second she was out of sight, disappearing back into the ground within seconds. She emerged out back at her shop and was quick to change into something a little less formal before searching through a variety of glass bottles labeled with a barely legible scrawl. When she found what she was looking for, she slipped over to the basin in the corner and turned on the water.

                                                                Ten minutes later, her hair was swirled up into a bun with wavy locks framing her face, glasses in place - though they were larger, more square than the ones she usually wore - and she looked quite a bit different than she had during her meeting with her former employer. Stepping back into the flower, Chiara disappeared from sight. Moving her left arm and shoulder was becoming more and more painful as her injuries made themselves known again. She'd just have to deal with it; she needed to be herself for what she had planned next.

                                                                It took a little bit of searching but she finally found what she was looking for; it wasn't hard to redirect the camera's that would see her and brainwashing the desk clerk with pheromones was easy. After she had the information that she needed, Chiara headed up, using the stairs rather than the elevator. A few minutes later, she was knocking on a door. There was the sound of someone moving around inside the apartment and then the door was pulled open just a little. "Julia, let me in. I need to talk to you. Please."

                                                                Something in Chiara's voice seemed to convince Julia to open the door wide enough to let her in. Once the door had shut behind them, the blond commented on the Irishwoman's appearance. "I used some organic hair color to temporarily make myself a brunette and used an old pair of glasses... It's not much but I thought it might give me a chance to get to you before Montoro realized I was coming here. Please, tell me what happened at your meeting. Why did you send me a text saying that we should never see each other again? Please... I need your side of the story." Chiara didn't believe that Julia was an OWC agent. The blond was a good person and very sweet. Montoro wouldn't have hired her if there was even the slightest blip in the blonds background... He had trusted Julia but now something had happened that had caused an upheaval... And Chiara wanted to know what it was.

                                                                (( Ooc: ))


Roskuel

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Eyes huge, so little left if something
Cracks and clues, he’s crazy as a straw
Why denied, does no one care or nothing
How, you ask, I ever last so long

Cause I, I went blind, a blinding riot
He’s regretting every word
Those empty lies
One more tonight, a blinding riot
As I summon every nerve


Thoughts: ... I understand
Location: Ryan's home



Blind eyes, ever so still behind his sunglasses, Mokin stood quietly as APEX covered Ryan. The suit saw the hacker as a possible threat. This was made apparent by the wrist cannon pointed at Mokin's head. Ryan was a scared young man and Mokin thought he might be able to talk him down. However, the black haired Brazilian remembered seeing something in the hacked files that mentioned the suit's ability to act on it's own to protect the wearer. He couldn't remember much of what it said after, but it was enough to know that there was a possibility Ryan wasn't in full control. This meant that Mokin needed to be careful and avoid any threatening movements, or the suit just might take action without Ryan's consent. The blind man's hands lifted slowly to the air in surrender as Ryan questioned his intentions, using his DJ persona. APEX must have been using a facial scan, comparing it to photos on the internet. Mokin had cleared any and all information regarding his identity other than that of the musical aspects of his life from the net, so, it was reasonable that Ryan could only call him by such a name. This also revealed two more important pieces of information: Mokin had succeeded in removing himself from the digital world... and APEX was really fast at gathering digital information. Far faster than Mokin originally believed to be possible.

Though, the suit's access to the internet had to be a one way street, otherwise, Mokin could have hacked the information from a comfy chair. Instead, he was forced to retrieve it all manually; old fashion-like. Once he could safely destroy Howard's original hard-drive Mokin would be the only one with access to the data. This information would need to be kept safe; either on his person or in a lock-box. He sure as hell wouldn't be uploading it to his own system. There were others out there who had the potential capacity to override his ever-evolving firewalls and he wasn't letting this slip through his fingers. The blind mercenary had always been proud; standing above all others in the hacking community, but he never once claimed to be invincible. As the saying went: there was always someone stronger... in this case, technologically inclined. So, he was going to play this one safe.

Speaking of safe, Mokin had a question to answer, "Well, I could say that I'm lost; that I got drunk and found myself here... but something tells me you would know it was a lie. To be perfectly transparent, I'm here to steal information on the technology you're currently sporting." The young man seemed to be confused about why Ongaku would want to steal information and, more than that... why the hell he would tell him. The suit had a gun pointed at his head, and he was damning himself. Did the DJ have a death wish? On the contrary, Mokin wanted very much to stay alive. He had found that being somewhat honest was one of the best ways of keeping his head right where it was. It kept people unsure of where he stood and when people were on the fence, (though, they were less likely to trust him) they were less likely to see him as a threat. "Now, from what I've seen inside, I can imagine you're going through a lot right now. So, I understand why you might want me dead. The cannon... it isn't going to be of much use. Even with all that special software I can only assume is passing in front of your eyes right now, I assure you it won't make much of a difference. So, if you're going to kill me..." Mokin reached slowly to his side pouch, wary of the suit's movement. Something told him he had enough time to complete his next action. He had the boy's mind turning, searching for answers to how Ongaku could have possibly 'seen' anything and why he hadn't ran yet. It was the suit he was really worried about. One wrong move and it was over.

Mokin's hand gripped the datapad, pulling it from the pouch slowly before seeming to scroll through a list. Finally, he seemed to have found what he was looking for, pressing the screen before putting the datapad back in it's pouch, "... you might want something that 'can'." A new weapon formed itself from the suit, pointing itself at Mokin. While loading the data files, he had attempted to decrypt them all. Unfortunately, it took way too much of his time. Trying to decrypt every file on the database could take weeks at best, if not months, or heaven forbid... years. This had been a man's life work and for someone other than that very man, it could take a life's worth of work to crack it, but it would be worth every second. There were only a couple files Mokin had managed to decrypt before he realized the time this would take, but it was enough to bring out a new weapon for Ryan. It was a gift to show he wasn't here as an enemy. Not to Ryan anyway. "If you're going to shoot... shoot. Or... you can put down your defenses, ask me anything you want to know, and maybe... we can even talk about where you go from here. I know you're scared... I know you're hurting. I also know you have no reason to trust me or anyone else for that matter... not anymore. I know because I've been through the same thing. Let's try to start this off on a better foot. You can stop calling me Ongaku Kyōshi... my employers refer to me as Hack Shot, my chosen name is Mokin, and my given name is Antonio Cardoso... my little friend back there," his head nodded to the side for a moment to introduce the owl, "That's Karuma. So, Ryan... what will it be? You can let me help you and we will find who killed your father... or you can kill me right now and walk alone. Your choice."

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Will sat, alone, and finished his food. It wasn’t as delicious as Celeste’s cooking, but was pretty good for London food. The cafe was pleasant, it was a sunny day, and his communicator was off. His powers couldn’t detect the other Challengers’ comms buzzing in different areas of the city, but he was sure they were fine. He reclined in his chair, took a deep breath of satisfaction, and stood with a smile.

It felt nice to relax. The civilian clothes Celeste had given him fit perfectly, and a discarded pair of gloves provided the perfect cover for his robotic hand. Thee difference was astonishing. When he was in uniform, civilians gawked. Will hadn’t had a moment in London that didn’t involve being stared at or hiding. It was amazing, being able to walk around, to immerse himself in the crowds. He was a part of the urban flow, the mechanical and biological torrent of people and technology, immersed in the mob.

The Challengers had accepted him and offered him a home, but superheroes were still pariahs for mainstream culture. It felt good--no, it felt right--to sink anonymously into the horde. Will walked aimlessly, following the throngs ebbs and flows through the city’s business districts. He took in the sights of rampant consumerism, connected to millions of machines. There may not have been manufacturing here, but technology was the soul of every transaction. It was the perfect marriage of human innovation and human capitalism, man and machine. For someone who lacked spending money, Will felt oddly comfortable.

A familiar shop caught his eye. He vaguely recalled helping peel a revolutionary flier off its walls, and meeting the girl from the diner inside. Celia, that was her name. He paused, a monolith disrupting the flow of foot traffic, and considered his options. More likely than not, she didn't want to see him. She hadn’t been particularly friendly the last time they’d spoken--not that he blamed her.

Well, maybe she’s not working. He thought with a shrug, and stepped towards the shopped. As he approached, a metallic glint behind the storefront window caught his eye. Will narrowed his eyes, puzzled. The device was obviously mechanical--gears and cogs jutted from its tarnished bronze shell and turned at a leisurely, constant pace. Perplexed, he walked backward, slowly mirroring his initial viewing angle.

The device, whatever it was, wasn't electrical. He couldn't sense anything from it. No electricity, no magnetism, no computer chips, no circuits. Nothing. Perplexed, Will shuffled into the sbop, never taking his eyes from the bizarre bronze machine within. Once inside, a peculiar silence blanketed him. It took a few moments of puzzled consideration in the entryway for Will to figure it out--he couldn’t detect [if]anything, even the cell phones and tablets from pedestrians just outside. Even more flummoxed (and more than a little intimidated), Will crept to the display and tried to pick up the mechanism.

It was deceptively heavy. About the size of a baseball, it was awkwardly heavy. Even with his enhanced strength, it took a hefty jerk for him to lift. Runes on the surface glowed with ethereal green light before dissipating, vanish as spontaneously and mysteriously as they’d appeared. Disturbed, he gingerly replaced the heavy machine. Despite his caution, it returned to its home on the shelf with an emphatic clunk that disrupted the shop’s eerie ambience. He cringed.

Feeling unaccountably unwelcome, he hurried toward the door. Something heavy struck him on the upper rear if his skull. Thanks to the metallic plates that reinforced his skull, it didn’t hurt. But it scared the hell out of him.

When he turned around, there was nothing there. He scanned the corridor between wall and bookshelf warily, eyes darting from shelf to shelf. He frowned. On the formerly empty floor, lying cover-down, there was a single, leather-bound book. The pages were yellowed, and the cover creaked when he picked it up. Will turned it over, and his heart skipped a beat.

The cover showed an illustration of a sepia, steampunk cyborg. The title, scrawled in bold, flowing script, read On the Integration of Man and Machine. Will didn’t believe in coincidence in the first place. The shop was already creepy enough--something was going on.

He leafed through the delicate pages. They were stiff, brittle, and stained, inked with loopy, over-artistic script, but what he could decipher terrified him. Will leaned against the wall for support, breathing deeply. The book listed the precise procedure, in Victorian terminology, that had given him his powers. It began with the procedure and moved into a story that detailed his life. There were no names, no places, but the events were unmistakable. His heart began to pound.

It listed the others. The other poor, unfortunate souls whose lives the Talos Initiative had ruined. It described their powers, modifications, and deaths. Each one was stamped with TERMINATED in humongous, block letters. Carol, only able to move thanks to her powers bending her metal bones. The siblings from Beijing, bodies fusing and melding in horrific, intimately detailed illustrations. Bryan, wireless mind forcibly integrated with a thousand computers, body immobile.

He ground his teeth, reading through the callous, sterile descriptions of each person’s powers--their alterations--their failed experiments. The pages were stained with dark maroon blotches that crusted over the pages like a scab. He shuddered. Infuriated, Will flipped to the front of the book, searching for copyright information. The copyright page, excepting the title, was blank. His fist clenched around the spine of the book, snapping it shut with a loud crack. He seethed, fuming in silence and staring out the window.

Will heard voices in the back of the shop. He whirled and strode towards the sound, book clenched in his hand. “Excuse me, he said, struggling to keep his tone level. “Would you mind telling me this book’s author? Or maybe where you got it?”

Then he turned the corner. An imposing man and a smaller, brunette woman were staring at each other. The battle of wills between them was obvious. His blood ran cold. There was power in the air, and it wasn’t power he could fight. He needed to leave. Now. Will swallowed. I may have made a mistake.



LOCATION:The streets of London--&Maeva's shop WITH: Two very angry, very powerful people. THOUGHTS:This was a bad idea.


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Celeste and Will chatted quietly for a little bit, until the white haired heroines phone went off. It was a text from Aria, asking her to come heal Darren when she had a chance. She was instantly concerned, of course, as Darren failing health put him in great danger, and immediately responded that she would be there within the hour. Celeste would have left immediately but that would have left Will all alone and as she was the one who had invited to get coffee, it would have been extraordinarily rude to just up and leave. This put her in quite a dilemma but since Aria had texted and not called, it meant that Darren was likely not in any life threatening danger and would be okay until she arrived. When she and Will were done having coffee and chatting, they parted ways. He seemed to want to wander the city - the clothing she'd given him allowed for him to look very normal and so he blended into the crowd quite well - and she needed to go heal Darren before she could take her own walk through the city. As they knew she was set to arrive - and because it seemed that Darren would be in no shape to do anything... *ahem* strenuous - it was unlikely that she would need to flash travel to the door and knock. So, instead, she teleported directly inside. Her appearance made Darren jump and he grunted in what she assumed was pain and then began to laugh, which was intermingled with a repeated 'ow'. Aria sat up and asked him if he was okay and he told her, "I'm fine, I'm fine." While his fiancee helped him sit up and prop his leg up on the coffee table, Darren looked at Celeste and said, "Well, hi Celeste. Pleasure to see you." She gave him a little smile and said, "I apologize Darren, I didn't mean to scare you and cause you more pain. What is the extent of your injuries?" He told her, "Torn ligament, a bruised meniscus, and a fractured patella. The fracture stretches up through my thigh bone. In other words... a pain in the a**... er... leg." By this point, Aria had managed to get his pant leg up and she shot him a look of frustration and said, "You made it sound like a lot less of an issue when I asked earlier." Celeste said, "He probably didn't want to worry you, Aria. Lets get these bandages off so that I can heal his injuries; the longer they're left untreated, the worse they're going to get." She wasn't a trained doctor or nurse but she had enough medical experience to know what she was talking about. The bandaging and the rod were removed and Celeste carefully placed her hands on his leg; her palms began to glow with a soft golden light. She could feel the bones beginning to shift beneath his skin. It was not a pleasant feeling but it meant that the damage wasn't so bad that she couldn't heal it.

Once the bones were back in place and ready to reconnect, that's when the healing became painful for Darren; Aria held him in place with telekinesis, so that he wouldn't jerk and mess up the healing process, and as the bones finished popping and cracking into place... She could see relief flood Darren's face. The pain that came from the end of the healing seemed to have left him a bit breathless but that was kind of expected. "Wooo... Thank you, Celeste. I owe you one. I hate to have to ask you to leave, but I could use a bit of rest. Feeling a bit dizzy if you know what I mean," he said. She stood and smiled, "You don't owe me anything Darren, I'm always happy to help out where I'm needed. I'll leave you two alone, have a good day. See you around Darren, Aria." There was a flash of light... And then she was gone. Celeste reappeared in an alleyway in downtown London and joined the flow of traffic. Very few people gave her a second look. It was different if you were in a cafe with a black eye, because everyone was sitting down and relaxing and took the time to look at the other people around them. But when you were walking through a city, everyone was too busy with their own lives to notice when another stranger had a very prominent black eye and a portion of hair that was pink from her own blood. As Celeste walked, she thought over what had already happened that day... It was strange. Darren had been extremely ill when she'd seen him just a couple of hours ago. She would even say that he had even been close to knocking on Death's door. But now... Now he was completely healthy, aside from the shattered leg that she had healed. That intrusive... whatever it was that she had sensed growing... Was gone. Like it had never been. It hadn't just been subdued and was lying dormant somewhere within him. It was actually gone. And he looked a hundred times better now than he had just a few hours ago. It was so strange. She wondered what had happened to rid him of what was killing him. Celeste sighed as she walked; she had a feeling she would never truly know what had cause his declining health or why it had suddenly gone away, banished like a bad dream. Things could only get better from here though, right? So entrapped in her own thoughts was she that she lost focus of where she was walking and crashed right into another person, who then promptly dropped the bags they had been carrying.

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you..." Celeste helped the woman she'd knocked over gather up her spilled groceries, apologizing profusely the entire time. The woman, whose name was Mandi, was good natured and didn't seem to mind, telling Celeste, "It's alrigh' dear, things like tha' 'appen to everybody at some point. Don't fret about me none. You go on with yer day an maybe git tha' eye of yours looked at; seems mighty painful." Celeste smiled - squashing the reflex to flinch as her eye throbbed - and said, "It doesn't hurt that much but thank you for your concern, I'll be sure to do that. Have a nice day ma'am." They parted ways, the woman in a pleasant mood despite having two bags of groceries accidentally knocked out of her hands by an apologetic stranger. Celeste continued on her walk, enjoying the brisk air despite how uncomfortable it was to breath through her recently broken and reset nose. Her thoughts turned to the cause of her broken nose: Will. He was a very sweet, if trouble, individual. She didn't know much about it, however... Celeste didn't want to pry into what was sure to be a painful past - cyborgs weren't created through acts of God after all - and so was content to know only what she learned on a day by day basis. She thought she'd like to train with him more, teach him how to fight small, fast opponents (while learning how to fight larger, stronger opponents herself), and she would certainly like to patrol with him more; she was still quite impressed by how well he'd handled himself with the kidnapping situation. The light-wielder shook her head. She needed to focus on a little personal time and think about everything else later, after she'd de-stressed a little. Celeste began to do a little window shopping, pausing outside several little shops to admire the window displays and making small lists in her mind for Christmas, which was one of her favorite holidays. She already had several ideas planned for the team... Provided that they actually got to enjoy the holiday; it seemed unlikely that the universe would let them enjoy Halloween and Christmas in the same year. The white-haired beauty continued on her walk, enjoying the peace that came from silent contemplation and reflection and thought.

Every moment of ＬＩＧＨＴ and ＤＡＲＫ is a miracle


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Julia Sparks
|MUSIC|
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Location: Home... or... it used to be...

Wearing: Julia Casual
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The apartment stood in near silence. A slight chill flowed through an open window, just barely kissing the petals of a quaint flower stationed next to a deep brown leather couch. The flower was purple in tint; hinging on the border of violet. A figure swept past the lonely, three-petaled beauty, shutting the window with a *click*. The purple flower ceased its spirited sway, stilling itself as if to sigh in disappointment at the woman who had cut it from its source of joy. Julia sighed alongside the flower, releasing her sandy colored hair from it's previous bond, and shaking through it with her fingertips; only to wrap it back into a makeshift bun. Her head lifted from its forward tilt as she took a deep breath. Her hand slid to her hips as her eyes scanned the room. When she realized how little she had accomplished, her neck gave way. This caused her skull to flop backward, eyes to close, and her lower jaw to dangle considerably as the air was forced from her lungs. The head was lifted once more (if seeming a little detached this time around). Her eyes remained closed as she shuffled a little to her left, turned, and practically dissolved into the deep brown leather. Through the cracks of her eyelids, tiny droplets appeared, fighting their way to the surface.

Why? Just... why? She should have just taken it. She would still have Chi close. She wouldn't have to lose the apartment. No... that wasn't an option. The point was to try and make the world a better place through realistic means. Montoro seemed to have forgotten that. Snake. Using his resources for selfish gain. Was she really just a means to an end for him? A tear collapsed onto her cheek, carving a pattern as it trickled down her fair skin. He was so much more than that before. Was it truly all an act? Had this been his intention from the beginning? He had lead her to believe there could be something between them, then one day, decided to blow out her candle without so much as an I'm sorry. No moping. She couldn't let herself fall apart like this. It wasn't an option. She lifted her hands, using her wrists to wipe away the tears before sniffling. Julia retook her standing position and began moving items into their labeled boxes.

Just as Julia finished taping up a box of breakables, a knock echoed through her apartment. She stood slowly from her cross-legged position, slowly and quietly approaching the door. Looking through the peephole, she gasped silently. Darn it all. Why had she come? No crud, coco... you texted her. She must've been worried. Julia shouldn't have sent her that message. The sandy blonde opened the door only a sliver. No, no, no. She should have just told her no... to go away. Like Chi would have listened? It was probably better that she opened the door. She didn't say anything... She didn't know 'what' to say. Chi pleaded with her. Julia bit her lower lip before finally giving in, opening the door further for the botanist to enter. It had been a tad difficult to clearly see Chi through the crack, but now it was quite apparent that she had come... prepared? "Incognito suits you. Though, red is so much more... your color... y'know? Well.. at least that's my opinion. If you like it... by all means keep it. And look at that... you make a cute little nerd. No offense," she stammered nervously. Chi replied with a less-than-excited tone. Julia expected nothing less from her, but... "My side of the story. You didn't... please tell me you didn't go to Montoro, Chi." Chiara confirmed that she had, indeed, spoken to Montoro before changing and coming over, "What did he tell you?" Before Chi could answer completely, Julia's phone rang. When the blond looked to her phone, she paused, "I have to take this. Give me a second... and don't go anywhere."

MUSIC CHANGE

Julia rushed to her bedroom and shut the door, "Yes, sir?" she greeted, hands stilling themselves as she listened, "Sir, I don't understand. Montoro, he..." the voice on the other end finished her sentence. As the voice spoke, she listened intently before replying, making sure not to interrupt, "If I may... it's not as simple as that. What am I suppose to do now, and furthermore... what is to be done with him? He tried to use me for his own gain, sir. That was hardly part of the mission I was assigned." She was nearly caught in shock when she heard what the voice had to say next, but kept herself as composed as she could, "But... Montoro, he... I want to help her, I do, but Montoro threatened me. I don't mean to step out of line, but I need protection. If you deem necessary... sir." By this point, she was ready to cry, but she had cried enough today. The voice made an offer, "Declan, sir? Why yes... I mean... Are you sure? He's a council member. Don't you need him elsewhere?" A light tone of amusement fell into the voice on the phone, making Julia smile, "No, sir... If that is your decision, I will gladly accept. I just thought... nevermind. Thank you, sir. As you know, she is here at the moment, so... I might not want to keep her waiting... if that is all... sir." The voice confirmed his offer, then praised her performance before hanging up. Julia looked to the phone before stuffing it away. Maybe this wasn't so terrible.

Julia backed out of her room, pulling the door shut, then turned to see Chi staring her in the face. "Chi? Everything okay?" Surely she couldn't have heard the conversation. Julia's room was soundproof for good reason. The flowers. Julia had them all over the house, including some on her windowsill in the bedroom. If she could use those to... for heaven's sake. Julia's body went numb, her eyes welling up.

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The tree was finally within arm's reach. Ryan was sure that Ongaku was much more than his media appearances showed and that his presence had something to do with his father's murderer from earlier. Perhaps the first man had merely been one of a two man team meant to distract any security forces that had been in place. It didn't matter. All he needed for for Ongaku to lie about the reason he was here and Ryan would shoot and kill the man. After that, he would began working on a plan to kill the man who had taken his father from him. The only problem was that Ongaku didn't lie.

When the Brazilian mentioned all the lies that Ryan expected and then admitted to being here to steal the Apex suit, Ryan stood stunned in surprise. The man had a gun pointed at him by a robotic suit and he was admitting to trying to steal the suit that sported the gun. The man was either mad or brilliant. As he begin to try and make a connection, followed by showing knowledge of the information displaying inside the suit's visor, Ryan tensed his hand, ready to fire at the slightest fast movement. The suit continued to readjust aim for every slight movement Ryan or Ongaku made so Ryan was sure he could handle anything the stranger threw at him.

As Ongaku began to move his arm, the suit began to pull the trigger, but Ryan said to the suit, "Wait. We should be able to react faster than he can attack if he pulls out a weapon. It isn't like he can see us. You said yourself he's blind. Just look at his eyes." The suit responded, "Holding fire, User." When the Brazilian drew out his datapad, Ryan sighed with relief that he hadn't shot unprovoked. All he needed was a reason to fire, but he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger until he had been given sufficient cause. Even in his need for vengeance, he still felt his conscience wriggling at the thought of killing an innocent man.

Ryan wait curiously as Mokin moved his finger up the datapad as though looking through a list. It struck Ryan as strange that a blind man would be looking through a list. Hadn't he been moving this whole time in reaction to Apex's movements? It was a trick! Ryan moved his hand to fire, but it was too late as the stranger pressed a button on his datapad. The wrist cannon disappeared before he could fire. Quicker than Ryan could strange plans, a new weapon came up in it's place. Two small launchers, one one the left and one on the right of his arm, constructed themselves from excess material in the suit. Each launcher held a small pin sized projectile. The display on the Apex visor showed a small display of the pins and a list. The list was headed with the words "Pin Missile" in bold. Underneath the bold, the word explosive was highlighted in white with several other options listed below it.

It was official. The man standing before Apex was mad, completely and utterly insane. Why else would an opponent who seemed to have some level of control over the suit give a better method to destroy him? Unless he was even more brilliant than Ryan had originally given him credit. The man was trying to win him over; it only made Ryan more suspicious. People only buttered up someone when they wanted something. Ongaku then gave him the exact choice Ryan was about to take, or he could listen. Ryan leaned harder on the option to shoot as Ongaku tried to connect with him again, mentioning how he knew Ryan was hurting and couldn't trust anyone, but then Ongaku mentioned that he had been through the same thing. As the Brazilian DJ gave his other aliases, Ryan's positioned softened. He lowered his right arm from the left, no longer holding his aim so tight. After introducing the owl in an off-hand way, Mokin again gave him the choice to not fire, to listen and talk, to work with someone to avenge his father, or to kill this man right here and now and walk alone.

Ryan took a deep breath, stalling for time as he thought. He remembered the darkness that he had felt this morning, the all consuming pit that he began to fall into when he found his father dead. Mokin offered him another path just as Redhawk had. The darkness that threatened to engulf Ryan shifted from despair to anger. It was Redhawk's fault that Ryan had been unable to exact vengeance on his father's killer. Not only Redhawk, but Nox as well. The anger built as he thought about the Challengers and Ryan's stance tensed again. He had once thought the group of superheroes were really great, but now he felt a rage burning inside him when he thought of the cowards, too weak to do what needed to be done to criminals. Jail was too good for the man who killed his father.. He nodded as he said to Mokin, "You have my attention, Mokin. Prove you mean what you say about helping me. Assist me in avenging my father. If you really meant what you said about helping me, we can talk after the murderer is dead."

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I’m going to kill that ********] Tina thought to herself as she looked down at her still unconscious sister laying on the bed beside her. Concern was shooting through her as she reached out and carefully brushed Amanda’s hair out of her face. Kayleb healed you, why are you still out? Tina’s eyebrows scrunched down in worried anger, The injuries inflicted by Ivy were not the worst…

“Where is Riley? Did you stop Ivy?” Tina jerked her attention away from Amanda as JC spoke to her, and she practically growled as she explained what had happened with ‘Riley’. She was more than pleased to see her anger reflected in JC’s eyes, but while she knew JC planned to deal with the situation, she was not about to let him take her vengeance from her. Rotor had to pay, and nothing less than his life would be enough. JC would not kill him, she knew this. She also knew she could not let JC know she planned to deal with this herself, so she let him believe she was going to stay with Amanda while he dealt with it.

After JC left the medbay, Tina followed a few moments later. If questioned, she would simply state she was getting Amanda something more comfortable to sleep in, which at that moment, was actualy the truth. She headed upstairs to grab some of Amanda’s PJ’s and brought them back down to the medbay. She spent a few minutes carefully changing Amanda out of the grubby patrol clothes and into the pajamas before tucking her under a warm blanket. She gave her sister a bit of a hug before kissing her forehead. “I’ll be back, and I’ll bring you his head Mand. No one ******** with my big sis like this.” With that, she headed out, being careful not to be seen by anyone. Don’t need to get caught leaving… she just hoped JC would be too preoccupied to think about seeing what she would do. And thankfully, she did manage to slip out without notice.

they’ll notice soon enough, so I best hurry. She told herself as she summoned water to herself and rushed away from base through the tunnels until she figured herself far enough away and took to the open air. Now she just had to figure out where the ******** Rotor was. Best to just start where she last saw him and follow the direction he went until she found something. So, back to the destroyed office building.

She had only made it about halfway back before she heard her name called from below. She almost ignored it and continued on, but she was called to again, and this time she recognized the voice of Celeste. She wanted to ignore her, but clearly Celeste could see something was wrong and wasn’t about to just let Tina go storming around the city without explanation. So, Tina went down to her, anger still clear on her face. “What? What do you want?” She tried not to sound as pissed as she was but it didn’t work in the slightest.


[Location:In the City ] [Mood:Pissed ] [Thoughts:Don’t you dare try to stop me]

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XX↳xa.k.a. Luxx

Celeste had just reached a point of inner peace, where she was no longer thinking about all of the problems that plagued the team, when she felt a droplet of water hit her face. It wasn't supposed to rain today... And that had been too solid to be a snowflake. So what...? She looked up and saw that it had come from Tina - she thought it was Tina, as the twin seemed exceptionally angry - surfing overhead. "Tina!" Celeste called. The twin seemed to ignore the call and she wondered if it actually was Tina... But then she realized that Amanda would've come down even if someone had got her name wrong. It was definitely Tina. "Tina!" she called again, thankful that the street she happened to be on was pretty deserted so that no one would see a civilian calling a Challenger by name. Tina seemed to decide that she should come down because surely Celeste wasn't going to allow her to storm around the city while she was angry. The twin landed on the sidewalk and snapped, “What? What do you want?” Anger dripped from her voice and made up her expression. "Tina, what's wrong? What's going on?" It seemed like the twin was going to keep whatever it was to herself but then it all spilled out in a landslide of venomous words. Ivy had attacked an office building and she, Amanda, and Riley had gone to meet her... Ivy had escaped and Riley had turned out to be Rotor; he'd been with the team for months, just gathering information, and they'd trusted him! Who knew how much information the thief had taken from them without their knowledge. Amanda had had her leg shattered and was currently in the medical bay; she hadn't woken yet. JC had been attacked by a Rotor-bot, met a new vigilante, and had been severely injured... He might have been killed if not for the arrival of Sheera. Oh lord. The whole city seemed to have fallen apart in the time she and Will had rescued a little girl and gotten coffee together. Celeste instantly felt terrible for not having come to the twins aid when they needed it. Her communicator had been on her person, she should have been paying attention to what was going on around her. She'd been paying enough attention to get Aria's text, so why not the hail on her comm? "Tina, I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you. I should have been. That being said, I know that you're angry and want to find and kill Rotor, but you need to go home and take care of Amanda. She needs you." Tina obviously didn't agree - her twin had a whole team of people to look after her, so why would she need Tina? - and tried to leave. "Tina!" snapped Celeste, voice taking on what some might have referred to as her 'motherly' tone. It caused the angry Magnuson sister to stop in her tracks. "Rotor and Frost will be around; neither of them are going anywhere. You will have your chance to get revenge, I promise. But right now, you need to put aside your own anger and think about your sister. We all love Amanda but you're the one she's going to want to see, not anyone else; she needs you to be there when she wakes up. You can go after Rotor later, after Amanda is feeling better. She's going to be heartbroken; she was betrayed by someone she cared a lot about and she's going to need the support of her twin sister. Go back to base and wait for her to wake up." Tina didn't want to. But she could obviously see that Celeste was right. "Go home," Celeste repeated, a little softer. "Rotor isn't going to go anywhere any time soon; he's got too much to lose to leave." London hadn't been tapped out by the thieves yet and Rotor wouldn't leave without Jack, who definitely wouldn't be leaving any time soon; pictures of him and an unknown female had been circulating on most social media sites and it seemed like he and the girl the pictures had captured were quite close. Tina would have her chance to get back at the thieves. But for right now, she needed to go home. Her teammate seemed to accept this and thanked Celeste - grudgingly - before heading back the way she'd come. Celeste sighed. It seemed that things could only get worse before they got better... As long as there weren't any more meta-attacks on the city and everyone could just relax for the rest of the day and try to get their bearings... Maybe they could start to make things right again. The team seemed to be falling apart at the seams. Now that Darren was better, maybe things could start to improve. One could only hope. Celeste shook her head and looked around. Things were quite, it was getting later in the day. She knew she should head back to base but she really wanted to keep walking the city; there was so much yet to see and she had to pick up some more yarn from the nearest craft shop so that she could continue working on the teams Christmas gifts... She smiled a little at the thought and then continued on her way. She would return home soon enough and would have her hands full trying to help JC juggle the teams problems. Hopefully they could find solutions to a few of them, if they worked together.

Every moment of ＬＩＧＨＴ and ＤＡＲＫ is a miracle


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Weighted pallets lay on the floor, stubborn as ever. The heavy bags of sand refused to budge no matter how hard Katsumi concentrated on pushing up with his telekinesis. He had tried everything he could think of to even gain a slight nudge of the weight. Slicing the bags, flipping them over his shoulder, even tossing them a short distance would be no problem for the physically hardened ninja, but in all his physical training he had neglected to train his powers as Sid had always tried to insist he do those years ago. Frustrated, Katsumi stood from his sitting and slowly walked around the bags.

The Asian stared down the weighted pallets from every direction, analyzing them for weak points, anything to give him an edge in lifting them, but found nothing that would really help. With a heavy sigh, the man decided there would be no trick to this; he would have to lift them the hard way.

Katsumi moved back to his sitting position a few feet away from the pallet and took a deep breath to focus his efforts on his mind. He could feel his breathing, his heart beating, his muscles tensing for the lift. With a deep breath he let each sensation go until there were only his thoughts. Closing his eyes, the telekinetic reached out with his power and felt the bag. He enveloped the entire pallet and pushed up with his mind. As it refused to move, the image of Lux blasting through his telekinetic blast as though it was child's play ran through his mind. At first, shame ran through his mind and he felt his aura retracting from the pallet. He quickly released the feeling of shame, replacing it with the knowledge that his actions had allowed for the true king to begin to move his pieces in London right under the Challengers' noses. Pride filled him. He could do this.

Katsumi enveloped the pallet once more and, with absolute certainty that the bag would move, pushed up with the force of his mind. Pushing all doubt aside, he strained with everything he had against the sheer weight of the bag. The shadows of his failure in the warehouse, his fall out with Sid, his failure to finish The Womb, even his inability to save Angel before she had been killed were all wiped away. He had lived through so much worse. This bag would move. With one more determined push, the bag did just that. The weighted pallet rose painfully slowly until it floated an inch above the ground. Just as Katsumi decided he could do even more, just as he focused his concentration further, the sound of someone's voice crashed into his reality. He let the bag go and rolled forward, finishing the roll with a twist so he stood, facing the intruder. He sighed, relaxing visibly as he recognized Arthur announcing it was time for the real training to begin. Katsumi tried to respond, but his breathing was too heavy from the effort of breaking through so many barriers in his mind. He managed a nod of acknowledgement with a slight chuckle between deep breaths.


|T|he king arched a brow, his eyes scanning the blade. His hands traveled to his back, locking as he stood straight. A deep breathe entered through his nostrils, holding for a few moments before being released through his lips. He was studying his pupil; waiting to see if Kat had the patience to simply stand, unfazed by the silence. The blade stood stiffly in response to Arthur's stance... like a soldier. The king really hadn't worried too much about Katsumi's physical ability, nor his intellectual discipline. However, his lack of emotional stability kept him from achieving full potential. Of course, it didn't help that his abilities were limited by minute training; used only for tricks and the like. Something was stirring in the young man's mind; Arthur could feel it. It was buried beneath his currently stoic face. A single hand slipped from behind his back, raising upward toward Katsumi's head. Just an inch away, his hand stopped, hovering in place, "Close your eyes. Concentrate on your past. Do not open them until you are instructed."

|W|hen Katsumi did as he asked, Arthur's hand lowered, closing the gap. "You assume that pushing your pain aside will grant you strength. Hm..." he sighed out, pausing for only a moment before continuing, "A brief triumph, lifting the weighted pallet. I would not be so quick to count such as victory. Katsumi..." he proceeded, his voice seeming to bounce off the walls of the blade's mind, "... your emotions and experiences; they are not what hinders your progress. It is how you react to them. You let them distract you, rather than using them to your advantage. Your anger turns to rage, blinding you. Your heartache turns to grief, impeding you. Your fear turns to horror, weakening your resolve. Even your joy mutates, leading you to become high-strung, dampening your focus. These base emotions can make you powerful, or cripple you. Moderation in all things, my brother, but ridding yourself of them will bring you to your destruction. Face your emotions. That is the first step to true victory. We will begin with fear." Arthur's hand retracted as he took a few steps back, "Do not mistake what you see to be mere illusion. It is true, yet false. It is reality, though, fantasy. Open your eyes."


Standing at attention as Arthur gave visible evidence that he was ready to begin, Katsumi waited for whatever was to come. He suppressed the need to breath deeply as he simply let the silence and stillness prepare him for his training. After a short time, the true king seemed satisfied that Katsumi was ready to do as expected; he lifted his hand within an inch of the Asian's head and asked him to close his eyes and to concentrate. Katsumi shut his eyes, perking his ears up for the sound of some kind of test, and breathed deeply, slowing his erratic heartbeat. As he did so, Arthur touched him, beginning to speak.

The voice was everywhere and nowhere, originating from Katsumi's mind. As Arthur's voice echoed in his thoughts Katsumi began to feel his thoughts going down pathways of their own design, or rather the telepathic king's. When the king mentioned anger, Katsumi saw the face of Philip laughing as he walked by, shocking the assassin, but unable to do anything because of his professionalism. When the voice spoke of heartache, Katsumi saw himself kneeling, holding the still body of his beloved Angel, the blood still fresh. When Arthur mentioned joy, Katsumi saw Celeste's eyes, the beauty and kindness deep within them. The emotional rollercoaster ended as Arthur brought up fear, removing his hand from Katsumi's head. The king gave a very cryptic statement, advising that the things he was about to see were both real and fiction at the same time. When Katsumi opened his eyes as instructed, his mind raced trying to make sense of what he saw.

Arthur had become Sid. The assassin knew it couldn't truly be Sid, but a trick of the mind, something Arthur had done. He would pass the test and go at the apparition with full force, but as he began to move, his body froze. The image of the last time he had ran into someone that looked like Sid flashed before his eyes and his body remembered the pain, remembered the knowing that he was going to die, and it simply froze in complete fear of the image before him.


|A|rthur gazed upon Katsumi through Sid's eyes. It nearly made him sick to assume this form, but it was necessary. Even now, his mind flooded with Sid's past. It was no wonder he had become a sick, perverted demon. Always changing form was mentally scarring; barbaric to his own sanity. The side effects of such carelessness included memory overlapping. The psychopath had all but forgotten his own identity by the end of it all. He didn't just copy and use these forms. He would commonly kill the originals. By doing so, Sid had memories of dying over and over... and over again. Arthur had to maintain. This was merely to put Katsumi in a position to face his past and emotions. It seemed his blade had already been locked into place. His muscles tensed, as if demanding a charge, but he was frozen, as if unable to control himself. "Katsumi, focus," Arthur said calmly, Sid's voice flooding his vocals, "You freeze... you die." These words barely had time to drip from his lips as his hand came up, palm facing his blade.

|K|atsumi would feel the molecules swirling around him like a magnetic field; Sid's power beginning to shape the air around him. No solid form appeared. Instead, the air became thick with oxygen. Sid's thumb and middle finger connected, pressing against each other ever so firmly. In the time it took for Katsumi to blink, the digits would slide across each other, creating a loud snap. A spark would ignite the oxygen in a blaze of glory.


As Katsumi stood there, locked in place, Sid's eyes had the greatest look of disdain in them. The Asian had faced dozens of men and never backed down, had faced foes that outclassed him greatly and danced with them, but the man before him was the epitome of chaos. Everyone else could be predicted, but this man and his duplicate running about London; they were too erratic to plan anything around. Sid speaking for Katsumi to focus broke him from his revere. The threat of death was accented by a feeling of the air charging and thickening. The panic gripped the ninja, but he had to do something.

With Sid's hand starting to move, Katsumi let go of the panic and used the reflexes that his fear granted him. He rolled back and, on instinct, released his powers toward the thick, invisible cloud. Just as the inferno began to consume the air, Katsumi's telekinesis launched the oxygen directly toward its creator.

The king had said he wanted to forge his Blade, but a literal trial by fire was taking the metaphor to a new extreme. Katsumi was relieved he had broken through the cold that gripped him. Surely the King wouldn't have allowed that to engulf his Blade if he hadn't successfully passed the test.


|A|s the flame overwhelmed the air it fed upon, Sid's form simply stood, unfazed by the impending wildfire that would surely engulf his very being. However, the raging inferno's behavior began to change as soon as it entered Sid's aura. It flowed like water around the poised figure, seeming to peel away the Sid persona, leaving Arthur's form in its wake before dissolving... ceasing to exist. The king's hands came together, clapping three times before placing them back behind him, "Well done. Though your retaliation would not have fazed such a creature, this victory did not rely on your opponent's defeat. Rather, the control of your fear."

|A|rthur approached Katsumi with regal stature, placing his hand upon the blade's shoulder. His stern face softened as a smile stretched across his face, "You did beautifully. Just remember that courage is not the absence of fear, but the authority over it. Never let go of your fear. It causes intelligent men to act foolishly. Do you understand?" Katsumi responded positively. "Good. That will be all for emotional control today. Now that we have trained your mind, it's time to learn some new skills. Move the pallet over to the corner and we can continue."


Katsumi watched as the blazing oxygen seemed to melt into liquid fire as it neared Sid. As it circled the psychopath, the man's form flickered, burned away to leave the tempered form of Arthur. The Asian's head tilted ever so slightly as a line began to connect, but he snapped back to attention as the True King clapped. With Arthur's praise and kind touch, Katsumi shook the thought from his mind. This man was less Sid than the man that he was forced to accept as a partner.

The Asian listened as Arthur explained that fear was good to keep in moderation in order to keep his actions in check while not allowing it to overcome him. Katsumi nodded that he understood the lesson. When the king instructed the telekinetic to move the pallet to the corner of the room, the ninja gladly picked up the pallet with his hands, supporting the weight with his mind as he took it to the corner. He returned, ready to learn more from his master.

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Maybe I should find somewhere warmer to live.. A young teen thought as he lay on a few layers of cardboard in a trash filled alleyway, absent-mindedly petting the small warm bundle of fur that lay by his stomach. The sun was just starting to creep above the tops of the multitude of buildings in the vast city of London, and it seemed to bring with it no warmth to push away the winter weather as it settled in for the next few months. He lay there for awhile, just watching the shadows slowly move with the sun, but movement took his glazed gaze away from the street and to further down the alley. Another sleeper was waking, and once the first started to move, the rest in the dingy alley started to shuffle and stir. He sat up then and stretched a bit, waking the dozing cat at his side in the process. The tiny one eyed cat let out a meow as it too sat up and gave a long, luxurious stretch. “Guess it’s time to find us some food, hm?”


He wasn’t out for very long, doing his little begging bit, when from behind voices rose. “Hey little Cyrus. Ain’t seen ya fer a few days now, ya tryin’ ta hide on us? Skimp out on what’cha owe us?” Cyrus jerked around to face a trio of guys who seemed to think that dressing like peacocks made them intimidating. Unfortunately, it didn’t have to be these fools who were scary, but rather, the woman they worked for. Cyrus rose his hands in a placating sort of manner as he shook his head slowly. “N-no. I-I’ll have the money, I just-“ “So ya ain’t got the money fer us?” Asked the one who clearly thought of himself as the muscle of this little group, “W-well no.. I just need a little more time. It’s.. it’s hard to-“ “No, it ain’t hard. There is tonnes of people just waitin’ to lose their money, ya just ain’t tryin’. Now get the ******** out there and get us what ya owe or next time we speak, ya’ll end up in a cast.” With a shaky nod from Cyrus, the trio turned and left, off to find the others who owed them for ‘sleeping rights’.

“Fuuuuuck.” Cyrus sighed under his breath as he watched the three go until they turned a corner and were out of sight. It was hard enough to pick up enough money to feed and clothe himself and the little furball, let alone have to pay those thugs for a safe place to sleep every night. Cyrus reached into his pocket and pulled out the battered old wallet he found in the trash a few weeks back. It served it’s purpose at least, holding all the money in the world he held to his name. Which was barely ten bucks, and a bit of change. He’d need at least fifty before the end of the day, and that was just for paying off his ‘sleeping rights’ for the week. “God-damnit.” There was no way he’d make that by the end of the day by asking for spare change. No one gave a s**t about the homeless in this city, he was lucky to get ten bucks a day in the streets he was able to beg on. So, that left him very few options.. all of which involved just taking the money he needed from the unsuspecting.


A long while passed before he found a likely candidate for the theft, a pretty white haired woman who looked as though she could easily afford losing her purse to some street kid in need. And she seemed to be completely oblivious to him on this mostly deserted street. Good, that would give him some time to catch up and get the jump on her.

He slowly, but steadily, approached the woman from behind, doing his best to appear as though he was just happening to walk down the street, as if nothing was the matter. She clearly knew someone was approaching, as she moved to the side of the sidewalk as if to let him pass. He.. well he felt bad to have to do this, he never liked stealing from people, even if they looked as though the loss would mean nothing to them. But, too late to turn back now, he needed the money, and she looked as though she could spare it, so just as he was about to come up beside her, he grabbed the bag right from her hands and instantly made to flee. Unfortunately, the power he held that he had been expecting to use to assist in his fleeing did not activate, an ability he had been relying on for this, which was one that allowed him to run through solid walls. So, he smashed hard into the wall of the building beside them, and fell flat on his a** with a busted nose. “What the ********] was all he managed before he was grabbed in a vice grip by the woman who he had tried to steal from. Strangely, her look went from anger, to slight concern, then to wonder. He stared at her with defiance, until he caught sight of the arm she held. It.. his arm was glowing as if the sun were trying to burst from him. “No ******** wonder. What kind of ******** lame power do you have lady? The ability to glow, great, just what I ******** need.”



-Location: London Streets- -Mood: Embarassed and Annoyed- -Thoughts: Well ********, hopefully she won’t call the police-
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